14. Welcome to the Green Pastures
Thanks to the sudden appearance of the mysterious great chieftain Sar, who stands at the pinnacle of absolute power in the Austro-Hungarian tribe, and who spoke on our behalf, I finally managed to temporarily suppress the recent continuous sparks of conflict between the Austro-Hungarian tribe and the Prussian Kingdom, preventing these foolish orc warriors from actually charging into battle against those “magical elves” armed with long guns and cannons.
Though I still had my doubts: why did this chieftain choose to speak for me without even asking a question after their shadow appeared? Compared to trying to decipher the thoughts of a shadow whose appearance I didn’t even know, it was indeed better to clarify the so-called “orc spy” identity first.
Even if this matter wasn’t a threat posed by the great chieftain, I intended to take it on myself. After all, Adelf from the Prussian Kingdom really had some contact with certain orcs. I needed to investigate thoroughly before these orcs learned the truth and then see how to cover it up.
Thus, with the help of the brothers Ge Luom and Gu Erdan, I decided to first convey the message to the Prussian Kingdom that “Kephiel and I won’t be able to return for a while,” while Kephiel would stay in the Austro-Hungarian tribe to send a signal to the other orcs who might be suspicious of us that “we won’t run away out of fear.”
At this moment, outside the main city of the Austro-Hungarian tribe, accompanied by Ge Luom and Gu Erdan, I finally met the elven messengers from the Prussian Kingdom, who had reportedly traveled through many twists and turns to arrive here.
“Deliver the letter to Adelf,
This group of elves is really tense about the presence of orcs. What’s that vehicle parked in the distance? Why does it look so much like a Leopard tank?
“And also, don’t cause any trouble on the way back. The orcs shouldn’t have any conflicts with you recently!”
The elves in military uniforms before me clearly came with Adéle’s reminder. As soon as I finished speaking, they started saluting me with a “clap, clap, clap” of their boots!
“yes·sir! good·luck·sir!”
Then, one of the elves came over carrying a safe, placed my letter inside, and turned the lock a few times. Next, several other elves began casting various spells on the safe, and finally, they worked together to lift this box into a larger safe and carried it away.
Goodness, they even used a welding gun.
This series of events left Gelo and Gu Erdan dumbfounded, and it wasn’t until the elves looked at that “tank” and drove away in a cloud of smoke that the two orcs finally snapped back to reality.
“Hey, the message has been sent. We should head back now, you two.”
“Oh… oh!”
Gelo rubbed his shiny red bald head and asked Gu Erdan beside him.
“Brother Gu Erdan, what was that vehicle the elf ladies were driving? They said it was a carriage, but there were no horses!”
Gu Erdan shook his head as well. Besides, you two shouldn’t look at me; I don’t know what kind of black technology that is either. To be honest, I don’t want to know.
“With that, the elves of the Prussian Kingdom won’t take any hostile actions against you for now. Next, we just need to clarify this so-called ‘spy’ incident, and there won’t be any conflicts between your two nations.”
Gelo and Gu Erdan grinned, their smiles revealing a pair of sharp fangs.
“Thank you very much! We’ll do our best to get the tribe to cooperate with your investigation!”
Just as I was about to say something, I caught sight of an unexpected figure on the way back.
It was Kephiel. She was standing on the path we had to take back to the Austro-Hungarian tribe’s main city, looking like she had been waiting for quite a while. Out of boredom, she was yawning and doing some lazy behaviors that she usually wouldn’t do due to her image.
The moment she saw me, she immediately dusted herself off and waved at me.
Gelo was delighted to see a familiar face, but before he could say anything…
“Big—”
He was smacked on the head by Gu Erdan, who then dragged him away by his clothes.
“We brothers are going to train. If you need help later, come find us at our place! S-see you!”
Gu Erdan pulled Gelo away quickly. Honestly, we’re not some desperate new couple; even if they weren’t so flustered trying to create a private environment for us, it wouldn’t have been a problem.
Shaking my head, grateful for the orc brothers’ good intentions, I walked towards Kephiel.
In today’s arrangement, Kephiel was supposed to stay at our place in the Austro-Hungarian tribe to signal that we “wouldn’t run away,” but could it be that she couldn’t stand the loneliness? She came looking for me so proactively.
I don’t know if it’s because of that reason, plus some strange “sixth sense,” but I felt that Kephiel seemed a bit… hmm, odd today?
“Kephiel, why did you come out?”
“You didn’t forget what we did earlier, did you?”
Kephiel sighed and pointed to the magic sword, Arthus, hanging at her waist. “We really taught that orc a lesson. What if one of them tries to cause you trouble while we’re at it? I was worried about that, so I waited for you on the way back.”
Ah… that’s true. After all, there’s indeed a death script from that “great wizard” of the Austro-Hungarian tribe in my current storyline, and having kicked that orc’s nose into a waterfall, it would be strange if that giant rat-like orc didn’t come looking for me.
Kefir’s Alsace at her waist emitted a cold, ice-blue light, bringing a refreshing chill that lowered the surrounding heat. With this layer of “identity assurance,” I pushed aside the whimsical thoughts that had just bubbled up in my mind, such as, “What if Kefir is a fake?”
Phew… I really was too nervous, to the point of doubting even Kefir. Clearly, our matters with the Austro-Hungarian tribe had only just begun. After sending word to the elves of the Prussian Kingdom, what remained was to resolve the conflicts and misunderstandings between the two races caused by “facts and misconceptions.”
“For now, I’ve informed Aideve of the recent events and let her know that we will be staying here for a while.”
Of course, there was no need to hold back with my fiancée. While holding Kefir’s hand, I recounted everything I had just done.
“Next, we need to investigate. Although it’s confirmed that Aideve has had contact with the orcs, even if she’s lying, we need to find the people she interacted with before we can confront her.”
After rambling on to myself, a nagging feeling in my heart compelled me to turn and look at Kefir, who had been silent all this time.
But it was a mistake to look; upon doing so…
I was shocked to find several strands of hair on Kefir’s shoulder that were completely different from her hair color… hair, hair!?
I gasped.
Hiss…
What is going on here!?
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